Sunil Chhetri is one of the best in this tournament: Asian Cup CEO

Jassim Abdulaziz Al Jassim, the CEO of the forthcoming AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, says India captain Sunil Chhetri is "one of the best" players in Asia, and fans are buying tickets to watch India matches because of the star striker.

“Sunil Chhetri is one of the best players in this tournament and we have seen that a lot of spectators are buying tickets to attend India matches for that reason," Jassim told to the Times of India.

The Asian Cup in Qatar will witness many top footballers from across the continent, including established stars like South Korean star Heung-min Son, and Premier League regular Karou Mitoma of Japan, who will be representing their respective countries in the tournament.

But what Jassim said about Chhetri is a very big statement from the Indian perspective. With 93 goals in 145 international outings, Chhetri is currently the third-highest goal scorer among the active players, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

India, which is ranked 102nd in the world, will open their campaign with a game against Australia on January 13. Uzbekistan and Syria are the other two teams India will play on January 18 and 23.

The Blue Tigers will try to forget the last edition's set-back when they missed out on the knockouts despite beating Thailand 4-1 in a group match. This time at Qatar, despite being placed in a tough group, Igor Stimac's boys will look to break the shackles of the group stage.